The present invention relates to a push and rotary operating type electronic device equipped mainly in electronic equipment of various kinds, and capable of obtaining predetermined output signals, each corresponding to a rotating manipulation and a pushing manipulation of an operating knob. The invention also relates to communication terminal equipment using this push and rotary operating type electronic device.
There has been increasing a number of electronic components having a variety of functions in recent years, with an advancement of electronic equipment of many kinds toward downsizing and higher performance. Among portable type communication terminal equipment, in particular, there has been an increase in number of the equipment, in which certain predetermined operations can be carried out by making a rotating manipulation as well as a pushing manipulation of a single operating knob. A demand has risen for the push and rotary operating type electronic device having such a function.
In order to comply with the foregoing demand, the applicant of the invention has proposed a rotary operating type electronic component equipped with a push switch as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication, Number H09-7462. With reference to FIG. 11 through FIG. 17, content of the publication will be described hereinafter, using a rotary operating type encoder equipped with a push switch as an example.
This rotary operation type encoder equipped with a push switch has a mount substrate 2 made of molding resin provided with three flexible contact legs 1 (1A, 1B and 1C) and a circular hole 2A, as shown in a plan view of FIG. 11 and cross sectional views of FIG. 12 and FIG. 13. The mount substrate 2 supports an actuating plate 3 in a swingable manner by holding a supporting column 3A in a circular cross section of the actuating plate 3 inserted in the circular hole 2A at a side of the mount substrate 2. In addition, a movable contact body 5 having a radially oriented contact plate 4, which is in contact resiliently with the flexible contact legs 1, is connected to and held rotatably by a cylindrical supporting column 3B on the actuating plate 3. A rotary encoder unit 6 (hereafter referred to as xe2x80x9cencoder unit 6xe2x80x9d) is constructed of the above-described flexible contact legs 1 and the radially oriented contact plate 4.
A spring body 7 made of thin resilient metal sheet and a washer 8 are disposed on an upper portion of the supporting column 3B where the movable contact body 5 is rotatably connected, and they are caulkingly fixed upon an end of the supporting column 3B. A discoidal operating knob 9 is installed in a manner to cover an upper part of the supporting column 3B, and that it is rotatable with the movable contact body 5. The movable contact body 5, or the discoidal operating knob 9, stays still under an ordinary state, as a flexible detent 7A of the spring body 7 fits in a ditch of radially oriented ditches and ridges SA (refer to a perspective view in FIG. 14) provided in an upper surface of the movable contact body 5.
The radially-oriented contact plate 4, with which three flexible contact legs 1A, 1B and 1C stay in resilient contact, has such a shape that linear-shaped contact portions 4B and insulated surfaces 4C are arranged alternately, as the linear-shape contact portions 4B are extended radially at regular angles from a central circular contact portion 4A, as shown in FIG. 11. The flexible contact leg 1A makes a resilient contact with the central circular contact portion 4A to serve as a common contact. The flexible contact legs 1B and 1C make resilient contact with the linear-shaped contact portions 4B and insulated surfaces 4C at positions slightly shifted in angle between them, so as to produce pulse signals having a difference in phase between them and the flexible contact leg 1A, i.e. the common contact. The flexible contact legs 1B and 1C stay still on one of the insulated surfaces 4C under the ordinary state as noted above, therefore the output signal of the encoder unit 6 remains turned off.
On the other hand, a push switch unit 12 (hereafter referred to as xe2x80x9cswitch unit 12xe2x80x9d) is disposed in a recess 11 having a back wall 10 (refer to a general perspective view of the mount substrate in FIG. 15) at one end of the mount substrate 2. A switch push head 3C provided on the actuating plate 3 is biased in a direction away from the switch unit 12, under the ordinary state, as it is pushed horizontally by a twisted coil spring 14 positioned in a pin stud 13 on the mount substrate 2.
FIG. 16 shows an example wherein the conventional rotary operating type encoder equipped with a push switch constructed as above is installed in communication terminal equipment. Supporting legs 2B under the mount substrate 2, terminals 15 connected to the flexible contact legs 1 of the encoder unit 6 and a terminal 16 of the switch unit 12 are inserted through mounting holes 18, 19 and 20 in a printed circuit board 17 of the equipment, and connected by soldering. The rotary operating type encoder is thus installed in a manner that the discoidal operating knob 9 mounted on the movable contact body 5 projects outward from a space in an outer case 21 of the communication terminal equipment at an opposite side of the switch unit 12.
Describing next is an operation of the conventional rotary operating type encoder equipped with a push switch constructed as above. When a projecting portion 9A of the discoidal operating knob 9 on the outer case 21 is rotated with a force applied in a tangential direction as shown by an arrow in FIG. 11, the movable contact body 5 rotates around the supporting column 3B of the actuating plate 3 as a center. This causes the flexible contact legs 1A, 1B and 1C on the mount substrate 2 to slide over the radially oriented contact plate 4 on an underside surface of the movable contact body 5, and produces an electric signal. This signal is lead to an outside by the integral terminals 15 of the flexible contact legs 1, and transferred to a circuit on the printed circuit board 17 in the communication terminal equipment. When the projecting portion 9A of the discoidal operating knob 9 is given a depressing force in a direction toward a center of the operating knob (direction of an arrow H1) against a biasing force of the twisted coil spring 14 on the mount substrate 2, as shown in FIG. 17, the actuating plate 3, i.e. the whole movable contact body 5, swings in a direction of an arrow H2 around the circular hole 2A of the mount substrate 2. This causes the switch push head 3C on the actuating plate 3 to push an operating button 12A of the switch unit 12, thereby operating the switch unit 12 to make en electrical connection between predetermined circuits on the printed circuit board 17. When the depressing force given to the discoidal operating knob 9 is removed, the actuating plate 3 is pushed back by a restoring force of the twisted coil spring 14 on the mount substrate 2, and the switch unit 12 resumes the state of FIG. 11, that is the OFF position.
However, the conventional rotary operating type encoder equipped with a push switch (push and rotary operating type electronic device) having the foregoing structure is such that the encoder unit 6 and the switch unit 12 are separately disposed in parallel on one of surfaces of the mount substrate 2. Therefore, although a thickness can be reduced, it increases a projected area, which makes it difficult to secure a space for mounting this device, as downsizing of the communication terminal equipment continues advancing. The device also bears a possibility of being operated erroneously, since a small force is applied in a direction of the arrow HI shown in FIG. 17, i.e. the direction of depressing manipulation, during a rotating manipulation of the device mounted on the communication terminal equipment. Moreover, it is liable to be operated by a thumb of a hand on a same side as the side where the projecting portion 9A of the discoidal operating knob 9 is disposed on a surface of the equipment during the manipulation. This has given rise to another problem that, for an operator holding the communication terminal equipment with an opposite side hand, it is not easy to use.
The present invention is intended to solve the foregoing problems of the prior art, and it aims at providing a push and rotary operating type electronic device that is small in projected area, capable of being operated by both a rotating manipulation and a pushing manipulation with a force applied to different positions on a discoidal operating knob, i.e. an operating body, less liable to an erroneous manipulation, and easy to use. The invention also aims at providing communication terminal equipment equipped with this push and rotary operating type electronic device.
A push and rotary operating type electronic device of the present invention includes: a case having an opening on top, provided with a first stationary contact for a push type component in a center of a bottom surface and a second stationary contact for a rotary type component at a peripheral portion of the first stationary contact; a push type movable contact disposed above the first stationary contact for constituting the push type component in combination with the first stationary contact; a movable contact body provided with a rotary type movable contact on an underside surface of a flange portion of a rotatably supported cylindrical portion, for contacting with the second stationary contact, the movable contact body constituting the rotary type component in combination with the second stationary contact; an actuator inserted in and supported by a central through hole in the cylindrical portion of the movable contact body in a manner that the actuator is rotatable conjunctly with the movable contact body with respect to the case, while it is also independently movable in a vertical direction, for actuating the push type component when depressed downwardly; an operating body of a discoidal shape having a connecting portion to the actuator in a center of an underside surface; and a cover having a flat portion for covering the opening on top of the case and a bearing hole in a center of the flat portion for rotatably supporting the cylindrical portion of the movable contact body.
In addition, communication terminal equipment of the present invention is equipped with the push and rotary operating type electronic device having the above-described structure.
The foregoing structure of this invention can realize miniaturization of an electronic component, since it provides a combination of the push type component and the rotary type component within a small projected area. In addition, the invention offers a push and rotary operating type electronic device that is less liable to an erroneous manipulation and easy to operate, since it is capable of being operated by a force applied to a single operating body of a discoidal shape at different positions respectively when making a rotating manipulation and a pushing manipulation. The invention also offers communication terminal equipment quipped with the push and rotary operating type electronic device.